Red Bridge Cafe & Restaurant

In Windsor, on Sydney’s north-west fringe, Red Bridge Cafe and Restaurant greets the morning and stirs the evening. By day it is a lively cafe with an honest streak: free-range eggs every which way, house-baked pastries warm from the oven, and sandwiches and bowls made to satisfy rather than merely decorate. Think scrambled eggs on sourdough or a bacon and egg roll lifted by house-made chutney; toasties ooze and crackle, from leg ham with melted cheese to a classic grilled three-cheese.

Come 5pm, the lights soften, the kitchen shifts gear and the spice comes alive. The daytime ease gives way to traditional Indian cooking: tandoori meats and slow-cooked curries, paneer and chicken in rich, aromatic sauces, with vegetarian and non-vegetarian small plates to open the evening.

The setting flexes with the menu. The Dining Hall, filled with tropical plants and natural light, is made for lingering over late mornings, while The Bridge Room, all Moroccan lanterns and velvet chairs, turns dinner into a little voyage. It is a place that suits the quick coffee as neatly as the unhurried feast.

Start the day right or let the night take over. Pull up a chair at Red Bridge, order what speaks to you, and cross the bridge to flavour.